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A father of four says it will take months to put his life back together after narrowly surviving a high-speed crash.

Chris Dulake was sitting in his vintage MG at the side of the A3 when he was hit from behind at motorway speed, destroying the vehicle and leaving him with six spinal fractures.

Mr Dulake, 57, a plumbing and heating engineer from Ewell, was driving north on the A3 near the Stoke interchange on May 18, when he noticed a problem with his mint condition 1970 MG Midget, which he described as his "pride and joy".

“I was heading along when I noticed that the engine was struggling," he said. "That was when I realised there was a fault with my fuel gauge and I had run out."

He managed to pull his vehicle off the road before bringing it to a stop on the grass. He was about to call for assistance when he was hit at full speed from behind.

“It’s impossible to describe what happened. It was an unbelievable impact,” he said. “I didn’t have time to register that I had been hit.

“It was just lights out after I was smashed into. Then I came to in the hospital.”

The crash, which happened shortly before 3pm, spilled across all three lanes of the A3, involving five vehicles. The road was closed as an air ambulance was called.

Mr Dulake was cut from his vehicle and airlifted to St George’s Hospital in Tooting.

He is now back at home but has a long road to recovery, with six unstable fractures in his back, broken ribs, damage to his left lung and many cuts and bruises.

Witnesses to the crash described the car as being ‘destroyed’ and Mr Dulake said he was overwhelmed when he saw the state of the vehicle.

“I know I am lucky to be alive. We have just been able to get the car back to the house and my family wouldn’t let me see it for a while.

“When I saw the car and saw the shape it was in, the emotion took over. I shouldn’t be here.

“This is not a modern car with fancy safety features. I had a clip on belt and that was all.”

Now Mr Dulake has been told it will be weeks or even months before he finds out whether the damage to his back will become a chronic condition. He said the support of his wife, Theresa, and his children had been "unbelievable".

“I am blessed that I survived this but I am even more blessed by the people around me. They have been amazing and I don’t know what I would do without them,” he said.

“Now I just have to be careful with my back. The pain is always there and I can’t twist.

“They can’t brace me because of my ribs and lung, so it is a very difficult situation.

“I know that I am looking at months or maybe years of putting my life back together.”

Now Mr Dulake is hoping a Surrey Police investigation into the crash will give him some answers as to exactly what happened.

“I was well off the road. There is no doubt about that,” he said. “Nobody in their right mind would leave their car in a vulnerable position on that road and I put myself right off the road.

“I don’t know what happened but I certainly didn’t see it coming. I just have to concentrate on moving forward now.”